All American Racers' Eagle MKIII GTP Car

All American Racers' Eagle MKIII GTP car, from Racer Magazine

Grand Touring Prototypes have long been rolling laboratories in which were learned the lessons of tomorrow. All American Racers' Toyota Eagle MKIII is the last, and arguably the best, of this breed, a car that proved so overwhelmingly dominant that the class for which it was created has now been assigned to history...

SPOT-ON From a cockpit cocoon of carbon fiber filled with the instruments of control (LEFT ABOVE), Dan Gurney's drivers directed this Eagle's fortunes. Myriad adjustments were possible to the several aerodynamic configurations available (ABOVE), and the efficiency of the basic design is readily evident in the tidy arrangement (LEFT) of the front suspension and its surrounding ancillaries. The overall layout of the MKIII was such that it 'looked right' from first sighting (BELOW), and its performance on the track did nothing to deter that impression.

SMALL BUT MIGHTY Conventional wisdom held that a small engine like Toyota's 2.1-liter turbo four (LEFT) couldn't produce the kind of reliable power needed in GTP, but continuing refinement by Toyota Racing Development proved differently. The MKIIIs won 21 of 27 races entered - including an IMSA record 14 straight - to earn dual Camel GT titles for driver Juan Fangio II and manufacturer Toyota in '92 and '93. It is a record that ensures the MKIII a place as one of the most dominant cars in racing history.